The Mystery of the Magic Circle - M. V. Carey [20]
“The law enforcement people would be the first to agree.”
Jupiter got up and went to the shelves. There he saw plaques and medallions from cities up and down the coast. There were photographs of Long with the police chiefs of various large and small towns in California, Nevada, and Arizona. There was also a framed parchment announcing that Jefferson Long was an honorary member of a sheriff’s posse.
“Golly!” said Jupe. He hoped that he sounded properly impressed.
“I have some scrapbooks, too,” declared Long. “You can look through them if you’re interested.”
“Well, I’d sure like to,” said Jupiter eagerly. “And a friend told me you’re doing a series on drug abuse. That must be pretty exciting.”
Jefferson Long’s handsome face flushed. “It is. Can you imagine, even some people who are employed in legitimate pharmaceutical firms are involved in the illicit distribution of drugs? But I won’t be able to put my series together this year. Some people not very far from here believe that it’s more important to spend money on mouldy old movies than on producing a documentary series on a major problem like drug abuse.”
“Oh,” said Jupiter. “Oh, well. I see. That’s too bad, I guess. But the Madeline Bainbridge movies must have been very expensive.”
“They will be even more expensive when they have been ransomed,” said Long.
“That’s tough luck for you, I guess,” said Jupiter. “Except maybe it could be a break, couldn’t it? I mean, you’re in one of the movies!”
“The Salem Story was an extremely bad movie,” said Jefferson Long. “In fact it was such a flop that after the premiere, I never got another job as an actor. I found a much more satisfying career as a crime reporter.”
“But Madeline Bainbridge retired,” said Jupe. He was rambling like an artless youngster. “My aunt Mathilda remembers Madeline Bainbridge, and she says there was always some mystery about her. She said people used to say strange things about her friends. They used to talk about her and Madeline Bainbridge’s coven.”
“Coven?” Jefferson Long’s face was suddenly wary, as if he sensed some enemy.
He smiled stiffly. “Ridiculous,” he said. “A coven is a group of witches.”
“Yes,” said Jupiter. “You worked with Miss Bainbridge. Was there a coven?”
“Certainly not!” declared Jefferson Long. “That is, so far as I know, there was no coven. Madeline Bainbridge’s friends were — they were just the people she worked with, that’s all.”
“Did you know them?” Jupiter asked.
“Well, certainly. I was one of them.”
“Well, maybe some of them knew something you didn’t know,” said Jupe. He gazed at Long without blinking. “Do you keep in touch with any of the others? Do you know where I could reach them? Or maybe you’d be able to put me in touch with Madeline Bainbridge herself.”
“Certainly not!” exclaimed Long. “I don’t have anything to do with those people any more. My friends are all in law enforcement. As for Bainbridge, I haven’t seen her for thirty years — and I don’t care if I don’t see her for another thirty! She was a spoiled, temperamental would-be actress. Almost as bad as that Desparto character she was engaged to. Now there was a real ham!”
“He died after a party at her house, didn’t he?”
“Yes.” Jefferson Long looked old then, and his eyes were bleak. “After a party.
Yes.”
He straightened up and shook himself, as if shaking off a bad memory. “But that … that was a long time ago,” he said. “I never think about those days now. No use dwelling in the past. And why are we talking so much about Madeline Bainbridge, anyway? I assume you’ve come because you’re interested in my crime-fighting programmes.”
“I came because of Madeline Bainbridge,” said Jupe simply. “I’m doing a paper on her for my course in the history of films. If the paper’s good enough, it’ll get published in the school journal.”
Jefferson Long looked intensely annoyed. “I wish you good luck,” he said coldly.
“Now you’ll have to excuse me. I can’t give you any more time. I have a luncheon